MINNEAPOLIS — In what may have been his final game as a Patriot, Malcolm Butler watched most of it from the sideline.

The cornerback was mysteriously benched in favor of Eric Rowe. Butler had the flu earlier in the week and did not travel here with the team, but coach Bill Belichick said Butler was healthy and he also said it was not a disciplinary matter. Butler, who was seen crying on the sideline during the national anthem, played on special teams in the game, just not defense.

He left the locker room without speaking to reporters, but told ESPN: “They gave up on me. F—. It is what it is.”

Butler is scheduled to be a free agent in March and now certainly appears like a goner from New England. It is hard to believe after he was the hero of Super Bowl XLIX just three years ago when he intercepted the Seahawks’ Russell Wilson at the goal line to win the game.

Belichick would not say what the reason was for Butler’s benching.

“We put the players out there and the game plan out there that we thought would be the best tonight, like we always do,” Belichick said.

Rowe, who said he found out just before kickoff he was starting, struggled in Butler’s place, giving up a few long throws, including a 34-yard touchdown to Alshon Jeffrey in the first quarter.

Butler had a strange season for the Patriots. He admitted earlier this year that the fact the Patriots signed Stephon Gilmore to a five-year, $65 million deal last offseason bothered him. He was negotiating at the same time with the Patriots. This year, he was benched in Week 2 and his play was not up to the level he showed earlier in his career.

“Anything that happened to me is my fault,” Butler told the MMQB.com this week. “It has nothing to do with anything else, it’s possible to just have a s—-y season. It is what it is. I’m just worried about the Eagles.”

Even after what he considers a down year, Butler will have plenty of suitors if he reaches free agency. Last year, the Saints talked about acquiring him as part of the Brandin Cooks trade.

The Jets are going to be in the cornerback market and may look to steal one of their rivals’ players. They would know they were getting someone with some serious Super Bowl pedigree.